In Anchorage this week, former House Rep. Liz Cheney told an audience of Trump haters that only Sen. Lisa Murkowski is a good senator for Alaska. Apparently, she is not so keen on Sen. Dan Sullivan and she said that Republicans deserve to lose the majorities in the House and Senate.
“You have one good senator,” she said, after complimenting Murkowski profusely, and giving a backhand to Sullivan, who is up for reelection in 2026.
Cheney was paid over $151,000 by the University of Alaska Anchorage to travel to Alaska to trash Republicans as part of the university’s public lecture series. She spent an hour on stage with former NPR reporter Elizabeth Arnold, who asked her softball questions.
The university was effusive in its praise of Cheney, in this promotional note prior to her arrival: “Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney is at the fulcrum in our political divide. Displaying courage, discipline, and integrity in the wake of a national crisis, Cheney’s actions during her last term in Congress laid bare her commitment to country and democracy over politics—and they pose new questions about the future of the American two-party system. Hear Cheney tell the stories of how she arrived at her personal convictions, her remarkable career in Congress, and the road that lies ahead. Her insight into policy, principled leadership, and the future of bipartisanship is unparalleled.”
It was clear from the start that only those who agree with Cheney would be attending, and they packed the Atwood Concert Hall at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.
Cheney lost her reelection bid in Wyoming last year, as her voters were fed up with her constant attacks on Republicans. In 2021, her own state Republican Party voted to not recognize her as a Republican.
Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, chaired the House Republican Conference, the third-highest position in the House Republican leadership, from 2019 to 2021, and she served as the vice chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
Cheney has long blamed Trump for inciting what she called an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and said that he “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.”
Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, called Trump the greatest threat to American democracy. In 2024, he said, “In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.” Both Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris for president, and Liz Cheney campaigned with Harris.
